Floor washing machine



Dec. 27, 1932.

w. .c. JEROME FLOOR WASHING MACHINE Filed March 19, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet1 Q a I g L j j T 145 4 JP 3 jzzaarn'fn' We; (1.]5 0 e Dec. 27, 1932.

w. c. JEROME 1,892,347

FLOOR WASHING MACHINE Filed March 19, 1930 4Shets-Sheet 2 Dec. 27, 1932.

W. C. JEROME FLOOR WASHING MACHINE Filed March 19, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 306. 27, 1932. ER E 1,892,347

FLOOR WASHING MACHINE Filed March 19, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Wm MPatented Dec. 27, 1932 UNITED STATES WALTER G. JEROME, OF WORCESTER,MASSACHUSETTS FLOOR WASHING MACHINE Application filed March 19, 1930.Serial No. 437,070.

The invention relates to floor washing ma chines, particularly to thattype of machine which is adapted to be pushed over the floor to bewashed One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine ofthis character which will readily dry up the floor, after the washingoperation, or during the washing operation, so that nothing is neededbut to run the apparatus several times over the floor to be washed. Theinvention pro vides an element which follows the inequalities of thefloor, and so assures effective removal of the water from the surface.

The invention involves the use of a rotary brush to effect the washingaction, and means forfeeding water to the brush from a tank, and forreturning it thereto. The supply tank is carried on the handle of themachine and thus the machine is a self-contained unit.

In machines of this character heretofore made, it has been found thatthe suction orifices for removing the dirty water rapidly clog up.According to the present invention suction orifices are arranged in adetachable tube, which can be readily cleaned. This device may also beused to clean the brush, by simply reversing the action of the pump. Theabove and other advantageous features of the invention Wlll hereinaftermore fully appear from the following detailed description,-taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a frontelevation of the machine of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, showing what is considered the lefthand side of the machine, being taken from the right hand side Of Fig.1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line et4 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the lower member of the brush frame. I

Fig. 7 is a side elevation showing a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the machine of Fig. 7.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the drawings.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the machine comprises asuitable casin1 in which is received an electric motor of any desired, type. The frontend of the casing 1 is suitably fastened to a gear box 3 which is shownin Figs. 1, 2 and 5. Fastened to the gear box 3 by means of a bracket tis the upper member 5 of a brush casing. Referring now to Figs.

3 and 5, a brush 6 is mounted on a shaft 7 which is suitably journaledin the casing member 5. The shaft 7 extends through the *asing member 5into the gear box 3, and has fastened to it a worm wheel 8 which mesheswith a worm 9 on the motor shaft 10. The motor shaft 10 is located in abore 11 in the gear box, and water and dirt are kept away from the gearbox and from the motor by means of discs 12, 12 fastened to orintegrally formed with the motor shaft 10.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a lower casing member 13 is fastenedto the upper casing member 5 by means of hinges 14, 14. The lower casingmember comprises front and rear guard portions 15 and 16 for the brush6, and right and left guardportions 17 and 18, in order that the brushmay be completely inclosed and in order to compel all material beingremoved from the floor to be kept within the brush casing. Around theinside of the guard portions 15, 16 and 18 of the lower casing is atrough 19 for collecting the water which the brush 6 picks up off thefloor. A pipe 20 is preferably contained in the trough 19 for reasonsthat will hereinafter appear.

The front guard portion 15 provides a downwardly and rearwardlyextending portion 21 which extends almost to the floor. Attached to thisportion is a flexible member 22 made of rubber or leather or some othersubstance which will flex and follow the inequalities of the floor beingwashed and the upper-surface of this member is engaged by the brush 6.The direction of rotation of the motor is such that the brush 6 revolvesin the direction of the curved arrow, Fig. 3. It will 109 be apparentthat the dirty water will be brushed up the apron member 22 into thetrough 19 by the rotation of the brush against said member, and becauseof the flexing of the apron member 22 which flexing is aided in part bythe pressure of the bristles of the brush against the member it will bepractically impossible for water to escape beneath it.

The rear end of the casing 1 has fastened to it axles 23 upon which aremounted a pair of Wheels 24. The wheels 24 together with the brush 6support the machine. The casing 1 has also fastened thereto a bracket 25which provides journals for a trunnion 26 provided by a handle socket 27in which is located a handle 28. Desirably a stop 30 is employed inorder to limit the backward movement of the handle 28.

' Attached to the handle 28 is a bracket 31. Higher upon the handle 28is attached a hook 32.- By means of the bracket 31 and hook 32 a watercontainer is carried by the handle. As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thiswater container comprises a pair of conical members 33 and 34 connectedtogether by a cylindrical portion 35 preferably made of rubber orlikematerial. Any suitable means may be adopted for makin water tight jointsbetween these parts.

Inside the container is a hollow stopper 36 which is adapted to plug upthe outlet from the container, which outlet is located in but notfastened to a socket 37 provided by the piping 38. The socket 37 ispermanently fastened to the bracket 31, and the lower end of the conicalmember 33 of the container fits therein. 7

The stopper 36 is connected by a pipe 39 to a member 40 which has atight fit with the inside of the container and is located near the topthereof. The member 40 also comprises a strainer. The upper end of theconical member 34 of the container is normally closed by a stopper 41.

The piping 38, as will be seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, leads to the upperend of a casing 42 which may be attached to the brush housing 5 or tothe casing 3, and in which is located a gear pump. This gear pumpcomprises a pair of gears 43 and 44 one of which is keyed to the shaft7. The other end of the gear pump thus formed is connected by means of asuitable detachable connection 45 to the ipe 20. The pipe 20 as will benoticed in Fig. 6, is U-shaped in form, the ends being blocked and therebeing a plurality of holes 46 in the upper side of the pipe. It will beobserved that the pipe is connected to the container just described byway of the pump 43, 44.

The motor that drives the machine is preferably of the reversible type,and a reversible switch 47 is connected to said motor by means of acable 48. The switch 47 has a handle 49 which when moved into its upperposition causes the brush 6 to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction,and the gear pump to revolve with the gear 43 moving in a clockwisedirection. The handle 49 is connected by means of a link 50 to aconnection 51 provided on the side of the member 34 which also receivesthe hook 32. When the handle 49 of the switch is drawn upwardly, theportion 34 of the container is raised. This action does not serve todraw the lower conical member out of the socket 37 provided for it,because of the provision of a stop 52 which holds said member 33, andbecause the cylindrical portion 35 of the container is flexible and willstretch. On account of the frictional attachment of the strainer 40 tothe upper portion of the container, the plug 36 is withdrawn from thedischarge end of the member 33, and thus water is allowed to flowthrough the pump 43, 44 to the pipe 20. WVater therefore sprays throughthe holes 46 onto the brush and is distributed over the floor.

When the switch lever 49 is pushed to its lower position, the plug 36 isallowed to reengage the opening in the end of the discharge member 33,and the gears 43 and 44 are driven in the opposite direction, so that asuction is created on the pipe 20. At the same time the brush 6 isrotated in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3, and thus tends to pickdirt off the floor.

It will be seen that by sliding the link 51 oil the handle 49, unhookingthe hook 32, and pulling the container downward it can be removedentirely from the handle 28.

The machine is intended to be operated as follows The container 33, 34,35 having been removed from the handle and the plug 41 removed, it isfilled with water. The container will then be replaced on the handle 28,and when the machine is over the floor to be cleaned, the end of theelectric cable, not shown, will be plugged into a suitable wall socket.The handle 49 of the reversing switch 47 should immediately be raised,whereupon water will descend through the piping 38 as already described.The water will be driven by the force of the pump 43, 44 through theholes 46 spraying upon the brush 6, which should then be rapidly movedto and fro over the floor, in order to cover the floor with water and toloosen the dirt.

When suflicient water has been discharged upon the floor and the dirthas been loosened, the reversing switch lever 49 will be moved to thelower position. This will cause the plug 36 to block the dischargeoutlet of the container where it fits into the socket 37, but owing tothe fact that the plug 36 is hollow and is connected to the pipe 39, apassage is provided for water tothe upper part of the container, abovethe strainer 40. The gear pump 43, 44 will of course start moving in theopposite direction, as will also the brush 6,

kill

the brush moving clockwise as shown in Fig. 3. The brush will thereforeimmediately start sweeping water into the trough 19, and as soon assuflicient water has collected therein, the action of the pump will suckit out through the holes 46.

The dirty water will flow back into the container from the top end ofthe pipe 39, which as noted extends above the strainer lO. The waterwill immediately pass downwardly through the strainer, leaving, however.a great part of the dirt therein. Thus a separate portion of the floorcan be cleaned without the necessity of providing entirely fresh waterfor the container, at least until the strainer has become largely filledwith dirt.

When the floor has been cleaned and the container contains turbid water,and t 1e strainer 40 is well filled with dirt, the container may beremoved again and cleaned by emptying it and forcing water up throughthe strainer 40.

In order to remove the Water from the floor it is desirable to move themachine backwards while the brush is rotating in the direction of thearrow in Fig. 3, as this action eflectively sweeps the water up into thetrough 19. The flexible member 22 follows the inequalities of the floorand prevents the Water from escaping.

A modification of the invention is shown in Figs. 7 and 8, in which adifferent container and different water connections are provided, inother respects the machine being substantially as already described.According to this modification, a container 53 is provided which may beof cylindrical shape, as shown. This container is fastened to the handle28 by means of a supporting bracket 54 and a clamp 55 having a handscrew 56 to hold it together.

The inside of the container 53 is separated into two parts by adiaphragm 57 which is flexible but substantially impervious to water.The upper compartment is provided with an opening 58 closed by a stopper59, while the lower compartment is provided with an opening closed by astopper 61. A pipe 62 is fastened to the side of the container 53 andleads from the upper end thereof. This piping is detachably connected bymeans of a flexible pipe 63 to the upper end of the gear pump 43, 44. Inthis embodiment of the invention, no reversible switch is provided andthe pump always operates to suck water out of the pipe 20.

The lower compartment of the tank 53 is provided with an outlet 64:which is controlled by a valve 65. The outlet 64 is connected byflexible piping 66 to a long chamber 67 provided. on the top of thebrush casing 5. A series of holes 68 are provided through the casing 5under the chamber 67.

It will be seen that when the valve is turned, water will be dischargedthrough the holes 68 onto the brush. 7 In this way clean water may befed to the surface being cleaned while the dirty water is beingcontinually ging the apparatus, particularly as the pipe 20 may beremoved and water forced through it in the opposite direction to cleanit. The trough 19 can easily be cleaned when the pipe '20 is removed. Itshould be understood, however, that the trough 19 may be used to receivethe water, which may be sucked up by a simple nozzle without the use ofthe pipe 20.

r I claim,

1. In apparatus of the class described, a brush, a casing for saidbrush, a trough to receive water from said brush, and a pipe in saidtrough having holes in the top and a reversible pump means to directwater in either direction through said holes.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a container for water, a socket,a portion of said container extending within and being supported by saidsocket, a hollow plug valve fitting inside of said portion, a hollowtube connected to said hollow valve, and means for removing said hollowplug at will.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a brush. a casing for saidbrush, a collecting trough for water in said casing, a conduit connectedto said trough, a socket in the upper end of said conduit, and adetachable container fitting in said socket.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a brush, an upper casing memberfor said brush, a lower casing member for said brush, a trough in saidlower casing member, a pipe in said trough, holes in the top of saidpipe, whereby to collect water from said trough and means connected tosaid pipe to remove water from the pipe.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a pair of conical members, anextensible cylindrical member connecting said conical members thusforming a container, a hollow rod inside of said container, a strainersurrounding said rod in engagement with said flexible cylindricalmember, and a hollow stopper at the other end of said rod, wherebymovement of the upper conical member withdraws the stopper from thelower conical member.

6. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination with a brush, means to receive water from said brush andmeans to deliver water to said brush, of a container, a flexib ewaterproof diaphragm dividing said container into two parts, and pipingrunning from one side of said diaphragm to the means to receive waterfrom the brush, and further pipin running from the other side of saiddiaphragm to the means to deliver said water to said brush.

7. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with a brush, anupper casing member for said brush, a lower casing member detachablyconnected to said upper casing member, a trough in said lower casingmember, a pipe in said trough, holes in the top of said pipe, and aflexible apron carried by said lower casing member, and in contact withsaid brush, whereby to facilitate re 10 moval of water from a floor intosaid trough, of a reversible pump connected to said pipe, and acontainer also connected to said pump to receive water fromthe troughand to supply water to said brush. 8. In apparatus of the classdescribed, a brush, an upper casing member for said brush, a lowercasing member detachably connected to said upper casing member, a troughin said lower casing member, means for removing water from said troughand a flexible apron carried by said lower casing member and supportedby said member with the lower end thereof in contact with the floorsubstantiaily beneath said brush, the lower end of said apron being incontact with said brush where the surface of said brush is rotating awayfrom said floor, whereby to facilitate removal of water from a floorinto said trough.

so WALTER G. JEROME.

